“How did we lose that spirit?” Shehu Sani asks as he recalls when a Fulani man was Mayor of Enugu and an Igbo man was a member of Kaduna House of Assembly

MY DEAR SENATOR SHEHU SANI, I HAVE FOLLOWED YOUR COMMENTS ON PUBLIC ISSUES OVER TIME AND I HAVE COME TO CONCLUSION THAT YOU DO ACT IN THE MANNER YOU ALWAYS DO BECAUSE OF ACTIVIST MINDSET. LET ME SHARE SOMETHING FUNNY WITH YOU: AM FROM BENUE STATE NORTH CENTRAL NIGERIA.. DURING MY NYSC IN YOLA, ADAMAWA STATE IN 98/99 I EMERGED OVERALL BEST CORPER OF THE YEAR AND WAS TO BE GIVEN AUTOMATIC EMPLOYMENT AS THE NYSC BYE-LAWS STIPULATES. AS THE PROCESS WAS GOING ON, IT CAME TO THE TABLE OF HEAD OF CIVIL SERVICE WHO SOUGHT TO SEE ME. ON MEETING WITH HIM IN HIS OFFICE HE ASKED ME… MR TERNA ARE YOU A TIV MAN FROM TARABA STATE OR BENUE? I TOLD HIM SIR, A TIV MAN IS THE SAME EVERYWHERE ON EARTH. HE NOW SAID AS LONG AS HE REMAIN THE HEAD OF CIVIL SERVICE IN ADAMAWA, HE WILL NEVER ENDORSE MY EMPLOYMENT BECAUSE OF MY TRIBE. I DID EVERYTHING POSSIBLE BY EVEN BRINGING IN LAMIDO OF ADAMAWA BUT NOTHING WORKED. FINALLY GOV. BONI HARUNA HAD TO DISCHARGE ME BY GIVING ME TOKEN AND LYING TO ME THAT MY NAME WOULD BE PUT INTO ADAMAWA STATE WORKERS RESERVE SCHEME FOR FUTURE EMPLOYMENT. COMRADE SHEHU SANI, WHERE IS ONE NIGERIA? EVEN WITH MERIT. AGAIN, I LEFT YOLA FOR YOBE IN SEARCH OF GREENER PASTURE AND WAS OFFERED TEACHING JOB BY YOBE STATE GOVERNMENT IN 2001 ON CONTRACT WHEN BUKAR ABBA IBRAHIM WAS GOVERNOR. IN 2005, GOV. BUKAR ABBA VISITED THE SCHOOL I WAS TEACHING AND HAPPENED TO INTERACT WITH ME ONE ON ONE. WHEN HE WANTED TO KNOW MY IDENTITY AND I TOLD HIM I WAS A CONTRACT TEACHER.. HE BECAME FURIOUS AND DIRECTED THAT ALL NON-INDEGENE TEACHERS BE GIVEN PERMANENT/PENSIONABLE APPOINTMENT. INFACT, THAT SINGULAR ACT BROUGHT ME AT COLLUSION WITH DIRECTORS AND OTHER POLITICAL OFFICE HOLDERS IN YOBE. AS I WRITE THIS TO YOU, ALL NON-MUSLIMS, CHRISTIANS INCLUDING INDEGENES OF YOBE ARE TREATED FAR WORSE THAN SECOND CLASS CITIZENS. ALL NON-INDEGENE TEACHERS TEACHING IN YOBE ARE NOT ENTITLE TO PROMOTIONS FROM ONE RANK TO ANOTHER. THEY ARE NOT ENTITLE TO HOLD ANY POST BE IT PRINCIPAL, VP ETC. COMRADE SHEHU SANI, WHERE IS ONE NIGERIA HERE? EVERY THING IS DONE BASE ON RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC AFFILIATION. SO WHAT HAPPENED IN 1950s CAN NOLONGER HAPPEN NOW BECAUSE THE CURRENT SET OF LEADERS ARE THEMSELVES CHAMPIONS OF ETHNIC CLEANSING AND DOMINATION. IT HAS BECOME WORST UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF PRESIDENT MOHAMMADU BUHARI… BECAUSE IN HIM ALL THE MUSLIMS ESPECIALLY FULANI HAVE TAKEN HIM TO BE ANOTHER UTHMAN DAN FODIO WHOSE JIHAD WAR HAD NOT PROPERLY CONCLUDED AND NOW BUHARI MUST ACTUALIZE IT. I REST MY CASE